Sunday, November 30, 2014

Well, I sure wish I could have a redo on our Turkey
Day/Welcome to the District dinner on Wednesday night. It was wonderful, don’t
get me wrong. My turkey was great, the stuffing was moist and flavorful, and
the gravy rich and free from lumps, the potatoes delish and everyone ate until
they were tired. What is wrong is that WE FORGOT to take PICTURES! Not one snap
from anyone! Not the Elders! Not the Swans and not us!!!!

So, you’ll just have to imagine our first Thanksgiving
dinner in South Africa with my $45.00 turkey who flew all the way here from
South Carolina… truly. No wonder it was so much.

But, on Friday, we took lots of pictures as it was Elder
Smith’s Hump Day! Now, for those who are unfamiliar with a hump day… it’s the
day that marks the 1/2 mark of a mission. So for us and for Sister Hannah Knott
it will be at 9 months and for those 24 month’rs its 1 year.See the photos. And the captions.

We had an interesting Friday and another Marathon Seminary
Lesson at the Weitsz… Poor Kids! The Elders including Elder Swan (boy was the
back seat smushed) went on to Hazyview and taught two investigators a lesson
while the men tried in vain to fix Sister Jennifer’s toilet. They will have to
go back now that they think they’ve identified the problem. They left me off
about 2:00 and returned about 7 pm. The Weitsz and I had a lot of fun as we
finished the book of Alma!!! Yay! Poor Kids! Their ears were bleeding.

Sunday was also another interesting day. The Elders, Scott,
Smith and Ah Wong, had been practicing all week for their musical debut at the
branch Christmas program. When they arrived at the branch the director informed
them that another singer would be joining them. Well, even though he hadn’t practiced
with them the song turned out very nice. I thought I was reading the scripture
from Luke 2 but when I got there I was informed that I had a talk to give!
Well, for a last minute study it turned out okay.

Now, its Sunday night and it’s raining quite hard and
thundering with all it’s got. We fed the Elders a dinner of wagon wheel pasta,
with mince (hamburger,) home brewed pasta sauce with a sprinkle of cheese then baked
in the oven. I made French bread from scratch—turned out nice—and apple crisp
for dessert. Again no pix! Sorry.

So, this week has been a short blog week with not a lot of
photos but week filled with lots of great investigator lessons and good
contacts.

But with one day without power, one day to cook and one day
worth of Seminary it swishes by really fast.

Hopefully, next week will be a bit slower but with lots of
plans already set in stone I doubt it will be. With plans already in the making to put up our tiny
Christmas Tree, celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary on Friday and
Sister Swan’s birthday on Tuesday the week is practically over! I’ll try to do
more pictures.

Still no monkey’s but we keep getting invaded by flying
bugs! Now Martha informed me they are good eat’n but I’m just going to take her
word on it.

I actually forgot to blog about the baboons we saw while
driving home from Lydenburg the time before last. An entire tribe was crossing the
road as we came around a winding bend. The road to Lydenburg is a winding road
much like the AF Canyon road without the trees along side. It has many hair-pin
turns and top of the world views. As we rounded a bend we all saw about 50
baboons ranging in size from Dad who was nearly as big as ES down to babies.
Dad Baboon stood on the side of the road and watched as all his family came
across safely. They were all running and I think we were all in awe over the
incident that we forgot to take pictures but it was quite amazing especially
for a city girl. So now when we go to Lydenburg we watch for Baboons. ES said
he saw some last Saturday but we all voted that they were just rocks.

We had some amazing lessons this week. ES taught most of
them but I participated in the one in Lydenburg. We met at Colistos home in a
township (these are the areas where the government built homes and communities
for the blacks during the appartide.) This one is particularly small and
Calistos house is very small. He works at Spur 6-7 days a week as a chips (French
fries) and onion ring fryer. His shift is from 7 am to 12 midnight. Most of his
money is sent home to his wife in Zimbabwe. He is very anxious to be baptized
but he keeps getting called into work and in order to qualify for baptism you
must attend church 5 out of 7 weeks in a row. He has only been once.

The day before while I was teaching seminary at the Weitsz’
home the Elders went to teach Lebogang in Hazyview. He is progressing nicely
and has very solid questions. The lesson finished just before the biggest rain
storm so far started. This storm blew down trees and brought hale to Sabie and overlapping
thunder claps with lightning that hit quite close to where we were in Sabie.

Now, since this post is going to be even later than planned
I suppose it would be appropriate to use the saying: the best laid plans of
mice and women… I am typing this in the dark and using the battery function of
my laptop. Our power went off around 11 am and as of this writing (not posting
since I have no power or internet) at 3:00 pm it is still not on. Well,
normally, I’d say, “Oh well.” But today is my turn to do the “welcome to the
District” new missionary dinner. ES and I planned a Thanksgiving dinner sans his
favorite part—cranberry sauce as it is nonexistent here. I bought a 12 lb.
turkey that I later learned I’d paid $44.00 for (not sure I would have had I
actually looked at the price label) Nonetheless, I’ve made rolls, yet unbaked,
green bean casserole with real crispy onion things (not Frenches’), deviled
eggs—an unknown item here—and apple pie with a new for me crust using only
butter as Crisco is also not sold here. Now, of course, if I ever do get power
today, I’ll add mashed potatoes and gravy and corn to complete the meal.

So as I was preparing food and preparing food and preparing
food ES got a call from Sister Jennifer who he is Home Teacher for and the one
who lives in Hazyview that the terrible storm they had last night (we only had
some rain) blew apart some of her stairs. She is the one who lives in the
wooden house that the Jrs and the Srs. went out to stain. Her stairs are kinda
vital since she couldn’t get out or in her home without them. The men all
loaded up, canceled a few appointments and left for Hazyview. So, maybe we will
have a dinner and maybe we will not.

I may have to use Christy’s quick method of turkey baking…
that is if I do ever get power today.

I wish I could have the skills of James D. my photo friend.
He could have captured what I saw but I could not have so I didn’t even try.
Last time I spoke about all the swarms of flying bugs…I can’t begin to describe
that horror scene…but yesterday while I was cutting the Elder’s hair out on our
back veranda (terrace) I noticed a huge swarm of birds, yes, birds flying and
zigzagging around each other just inches from our view. We have a net that
covers our opening so they couldn’t have entered and I’m so glad but they
wouldn’t have been the problem. There were probably 2 or 3 hundred birds—small sparrow
sized creatures—swooping and buzzing the air catching in mid-flight the
hundreds of white bugs that were rising up from our below neighbors garden
area. I don’t know if some nest or something had suddenly burst but you could
see the bugs lifting off and then the birds swooping in to eat their fill. It
lasted for about 20 minutes and then suddenly when the bugs were gone so were
the birds. It was, I imagine, akin to the crickets and seagull episode of the
pioneers but obviously on a mini-scale. I was cheering on the birds as I’d take
a million birds to one flying white bug. Like I said, I cannot describe the
beauty of the birds as they flew around in a figure-8 without running into one
another and feasting on those nasty little bugs. I wish I had the ability to show you first or
second hand thru print the incident. Go
birds!

So, its Wednesday. We had no power until somewhere around 1:
am the next day…today. So tonight is the “welcome to the district/early by one
day thanksgiving dinner.” My rolls collapsed and we ate all the eggs last night
waiting to eat real food. We went to a place called Ocean Basket and had
overpriced fish dinners. I, for one at least, will not eat there again. Not so
hot.L

For the rest of the info of my life see the captions for the
badly taken but at least taken photos.

﻿

This is Kombicillae. ES baptized her on a hot, hot Sunday after church in KaNyamazone. The stairs you can see in the background go into the small build-it-when-you-need-it baptismal font. As you can tell we are all outside. The other white people in the pix are the Swans. There were 72 people attending Kombi's baptism. Great baptism and super good attendance. You would have thought we were in the States...except for the attendance part. Never have I been to a 72 people in attendance baptism.

Another guy was also baptized.

this is a home of some investigators the elders and ES were teaching. They are all interested but they are also the children of a polygamist. The Elders are checking into the circumstances of whether they can be baptized or not... Mom probably not and she is most interested... We really don't know what the church's policy is but we're checking. It is quite legal here.

This is Lebogang who is also being taught. He lives in Hazyview or at least near there. This is outside his apartment... They taught outside as he doesn't have any windows.

Another view.

And his view of his beautiful area.

a waitress that was very friendly. she told us she was in training and that if she had one complaint she would be let go. This was right after ES said, "I'm a little upset!" "Why?" "Because you haven't given me anything to complain about!" Tee Hee Hee! Only she didn't think it was very funny. In fact she sighed hugely!

This is the family the Elders went to rescue. They were stranded without gas and food or a place to stay. Its too long a story of how they got the Elders phone number and ended up in Nelspruit but needless to say, the Elders put them in touch with our Branch President who called their Branch President and etc., etc. They were at church on Sunday. We don't know if they plan to stay. He is out of work and looking for jobs in the mines.

This is Callisto and this is the cul-de-sac where he lives. His home is the one on the left side of the pix. Just below ES's thumb. It was quite warm but only got worse when we went inside.

The smiling guys.

﻿

These are views of the inside of Callisto's home. The walls are tin and wood and yes, you do see newspapers stuck in between the spaces. Ceiling is tin and the floor is almost lino... its actually an oil cloth that he has spread out. He is very fortunate as he has a window. I was sitting in front of the window. His kitchen is behind him and ES was sitting on his bed. This is a man who used to live in Zimbabwe with his wife and baby in a real house. He was a journalist and a journalism and media teacher in school. It was because of his job that he lost everything he had. He had to come to SA to work as a chip fryer. Nice man and very faithful. When I see this I have to remind myself not to confuse poverty with unhappiness. You can see from his smile that Callisto is a very happy man. Made happier because he has found the "gaps in his soul." His words, not mine. I love this man and hope he can continue to progress for his sake and that of his family. We gave him an extra Book of Mormon to take to his wife in Zimbabwe next week when he goes home to see her.

This young man is begging. We are on our way to church on Sunday morning. He is wearing a Santa hat. Yes, he's standing on the center traffic line. His sign says that he is hungry. We think he is one of many who work for a "pimp" of sorts. Like Oliver...and what's his name. Usually, there are as many as 3 at this intersection, 4 at the other and 3 at yet another. All have similar signs and they seem to trade off. He got mad at ES because he took his photo. No such thing as stealth with ES... Well, the kid marched over to our car and demanded money for taking his photo. I gave him a 2 rand coin (.20) and he said it wasn't enough. We told him take it or leave it and drove off. Probably not going to get a referral out of that contact...

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Well this post is late and the last week was a blur. You
know when you’re up to your eyeballs in alligators or in South Africa’s case
crocodiles and then one more thing happens?… Yep, you’ve been there, you know
what I’m talking about. Well, that was my week last go around.

ES was sick (again but he’s better now) I was working on the
decorations for the Young Women in Excellence program, the weather was Horribly
Hot and HUMID and then on Thursday our internet went down! Eisch…. Or however
it is spelled. I announce happily that I stayed on my feet with a mostly good disposition during the entire stressful week and weekend.We took lots of pictures so I'll let the captions do most of the talking.

this is Sister Diahle. She has been less active and agreed to help on this event and the Sunday after she came to church. Yay!

Me hanging the banners the spent the week making. I also made the overlays for the table.

Our cake stand with glasses. I made the cake table wrap with the scraps of colored fabric.

the primary class room after we stripped it of all things primary. This will be the food tables and YW display tables.

the entrance

the entrance with balloons and girls. The two in orange are twins.

the entrance with balloons sans the girls

the finished event room

with girls now and a few leaders

The woman with the short hair & in white blouse is the YW President

Some things we did not record digitally are the lessons we
have been teaching (lots of those) and the dinner out at the Kruger’s home in
Komatepoorte.It was great fun and they
fed us kudu fillets… Major good meat. (I have a photo of a Kudu from Kruger) I’d eat that critter anytime.
Yum. We had lots of vegs, Malva pudding (which is really cake but everyone
calls this kind of cake “pudding”) and orange stuff to drink. All very good. I
have to say it was a delightful evening with lots of laughs and music and a
spiritual lesson. Now, I must add that Komatepoorte is nearly 2 hours from our
Nelspruit flat. Long drive but totally worth it.

One of the days of the blurry last week, we went to
Lydenburg (another 1 ½ hour + drive) to visit a man who is investigating the
church. He came to church the previous Sunday and has met with the missionaries
once. Wonderful story—he met the missionaries several years ago (like 8 or so)
in Zimbabwe and went to church. He had a Book of Mormon which he has read a bit
in from time to time. On one of my seminary visits to Sabie I suggested that we
bring pizza to the family. Well, there isn’t a pizza place in Sabie so ES and
the Jrs. decided to buy the pizza in Lydenburg after they had done what they
had gone there to do. While waiting for ES to order the pizza this tall, rather
gaunt man approached them and told them he wanted to come to church and visit
with the missionaries again. Long story short, they hooked him up with the
Sibanyonis (who live in Lydenburg) and arranged for a ride. He came to church,
arranged to meet with the Elders and then for the second lesson I tagged along.
But, before that time, on the Sunday he was attending, I was asked to give a
talk at Ezrom’s baptism on the Holy Ghost. Immediately after, Calisto told ES
that he wanted to be baptized before he goes to visit his family in Zimbabwe so
he could have the Holy Ghost to tell him all things he should say to his wife
so she will want to join the church as well. During our meeting with Calisto,
he told us that he must join this church not only for him but for his children
and grandchildren. That this TRUE church will change his family forever. Now,
keep in mind that he has just had his first baby girl and he has no
grandchildren yet. But he gets it!!!!

Elder Smith asked Calisto to pray about whether Joseph Smith
was a prophet and he said, “I already know he was and is. I will pray so my
family will know.”When you talk about
Golden Contacts this guy is 24 k. gold with Platinum on top!

We will see him again on Saturday and set a date for his baptism.
He can’t make it before he goes to Zimbabwe as there are mission rules about
attending church 5 times out of 7 weeks so it stretches it out a bit but he is
so excited to learn more. He reads the Book of Mormon always and knows the
church is true. WoW!

ES will baptize Kombi this Sunday at KaNeymazane. She is the
one who came to church by accident and we started fellowshipping but then she
had to move. The KaNey elders began teaching her and now she is ready for her
“father” to baptize her

So, that’s one. Ezrom was baptized last week and his
daughter Violet was baptized last Sunday. Ezrom is on end, Violet and her daughter, and Elder Ah Wong. Super family.

Then there are the two girls who are learning in our flat. They
actually live in our complex and felt impressed to talk to the white elders
with the name badges. The Elders cannot teach a sister without an older male or
female present so they asked if they could teach her in our flat. We have had
three lessons with Portia and then she brought her flat mate, Shokie, who is
super insightful and really ready to learn. She began reading the Book of
Mormon and told Portia that “this book is addictive.” Shokie has had two
lessons and is hungry for more. They were at church and attended Violet’s
baptism. She bore her testimony to them about her decision. Nothing like member
interaction with investigators.

Portia and Shokie.

Lebogang (exchange the g's for h's to pronounce)

On Wednesday this week we will start having scripture study
class at our flat. We will basically be doing a beginning Institute class where
we will discuss the Bible and the Book of Mormon—heavy on the Book of Mormon.

Then there is the guy who is the referral from the internet
who lives in Hazy View…I could go on and on… but I won’t.

However, this time of year will begin to slow down our
progress. At this time of year everyone who is attending school begins testing
or what they call “writing.” I think because all the tests are written essays.
Eisch! Not fun! And if you fail one part you must take the entire year over
again. So, you can be 25 and still in grade 11. I know I would be still there
trying to take that dang math exam! LOL!!!

Consequently, everyone studies really hard to pass those
tests. Then when all the tests are done everyone goes “home” to wherever that
is. According to locals, there will be no one in Nelspruit not even in church.
They will all come back in January and life will begin again and so will
missionary work.

If only Home for us wasn’t half a world away. Sigh. But,
we’ll have fun and keep on working as hard as we can. Heck, I even bought a
turkey (one of the 3 in the store) and since we’re not doing T-day here (like
why?) I will save it for Christmas.

So still no monkeys in the kitchen but we sure had a problem
with flying bugs… YUK!!! I hate bugs! It’s calmed down now and we only see a
fly or two but honestly, I’ve never seen anything like the infestation that one
night! It was like a horror movie! I was ready to lock myself in and never go
out after dark!!!! Oh, yes I was. I think I’d prefer a monkey. Cheers.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

May I recommend to all world travelers… Like my friend Val…
come to South Africa and visit Kruger National Park! One of the coolest things
to ever spark my brain. I have included millions of pictures… well, lots anyway
but I think I took a million. We saw the neatest things but I’m going to let
the captions of the photos and the photos speak for themselves. After all a
picture…well, you know the rest.

That was an all-day adventure with dinner at our favorite
Spur—you know the Native American Restaurant with the intermingled tribes and
cowboy spurs—for 2 for 1 hamburger night.But lest you think we might have saved some money think again. I’m
thinking 1 hamburger for me so the 1 for ES is free. Then 1 for Elder Smith and
Elder Ah Wong’s will be free… Oh no. They each had 2 burgers! In all fairness,
they offered to pay for them but who among you could take money from poor
struggling missionaries… Not I!

Well, after they were struggling to breathe with having
eaten too much I put them on diets! Oh yes I did. Now Elder Ah Wong isn’t
buying into the idea but Elder Smith is.

Since there are so many photos I’m going to be brief. It is
now Sunday…the week has—you know—well, it’s gone. I had a birthday and got OLD,
I was sick an entire day which is like not having a day, we ran errands, we did
missionary work, taught Seminary, cut the Elders hair, had the Seminary
Kick-off event, and ate slept and watched a bit of Netflix.

I had a wonderful birthday dinner party at a Belgian restaurant
called Josephine’s. It was great.

Back to Sunday: It is raining, hot and humid. Yeah, my
favorite kind of weather! Not! Oh well, Paradise can’t have it all I guess. We
had a baptism after church and I was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost, I
also taught RS and my Sunday school lesson as well as had slices of my birthday
cake for those in my SS class and those who had read the Gospel Doctrine lesson…
It was a busy day. We just got up from taking a nap! Glorious Sabbath and there
are still no monkey’s in my kitchen! Especially after I only saw two while we
were in Kruger and I usually see that many out of Kruger and alongside the
roadways.

NYC: Murder Brooklyn Style

NYC: A Mission To Die For

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